The Kitchen

07/28/2008 Posted by drlsubaru

We went to The Kitchen after 5280 made it seem like Colorado's French Laundry. We were all pretty excited but the chaos ensued the second after we walked in the door. There is no discernible waiting area when you enter. You just kind of stand there until the hostess decides to stop talking to her emo friends sitting at the bar. We literally stood there for 3 minutes as she gabbed away. We finally got sat and literally waited 15 minutes before we were approached by anyone. The waitress did not offer an apology as asked us for a drink order as if we were bothering her. The drinks took 5 minutes and she forgot to even order my wife's martini so another server had to pick up her slack. 10 minutes later we finally got an appetizer order in - the fava bean bruschetta and the duck confit. The bruschetta was bland and the confit was good but boring. I am not sure of the quality of everyone else's food but I ordered the ribeye and it was incredibly overcooked. The rest of the night was just slow on the server's part and the food was nothing special. Doubt we'll be going back.

Pros: Decent food

Cons: Very unimpressive waitstaff and run of the mill food.

06/21/2008 Posted by waltworks

My wife and I ate at the Kitchen for our anniversary and were NOT impressed. In order, our gripes: -A $10 salad should NOT contain *grass* (no, not wheatgrass, or anything like that - a big blade of plain old grass). I can eat grass for free, guys. -A $12 "half portion" of a ravioli entree should probably be more than 2 ounces of food. My wife ordered this dish and we were *shocked* to see that her giant bowl contained 3 minescule (perhaps 2 inches on a side, with minimal filling) ravioli. -"Pesto" is a sauce containing both basil and garlic. My "pesto" gnocchi dish contained neither, as far as I could tell, and tasted similar to something available at an all-you-can-eat buffet - overly salted mush without discernible texture. The "pesto" was at least green, though. In short, we spent $70 for tiny portions of bad food. Never again.

04/15/2008 Posted by YellowSceneMagazine

This appeared in the April Best of Issue of Yellow Scene Magazine American • CRITICS: The Kitchen, Downtown In the last few years we’ve seen an increase in restaurants with an eye toward sustainable menus and locally grown, often organic, ingredients. It’s safe to say The Kitchen’s success since opening in 2004 is one of the reasons. The menu features (mostly) Colorado meats and produce that are free range and/or organic. That pays off in taste as well as peace of mind when eating such delights as the Cassoulet with abondanza farm beans, braised lamb, pork and housemade sausage. The brunch and wine lists are as impressive (they even recycle the corks).

05/30/2007 Posted by french_fancy

Not Very Good for both food and service. This was a Monday night and the place was crowded and very noisy. My surprise was that they are skimpy on the food. I ordered the Prawns on spinach with a dressing. It is not on the menu now. The four prawn were tasteless, if they had a sauce on them it also was tasteless. The small amount of spinach was almost unoticable and the dressing was not enough to add any flavor to this dish. Service was slow and the waiter was hardly audible over the crowd. I love food and always look for what's in it, spices, seasoning, etc. in this case nothing. I am a petite woman and normally a dinner meals fill me up. I found myself driving home thinking of what I could go home and fix for a real dinner. This was terribly disappointing. No way will I return, these people are really thiefs wearing aprons. Think twice about eating here, unless you know you have another dinner in the refrig at home, this place is a waste of money. All show and high prices for what you get. INot worth it, try some other restaurant and let this one go under, Boulder could use another used book store again.

Pros: Location

Cons: Skimpy on the food, too noisy

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful

04/27/2007 Posted by luv2r8

Last night was probably my fourth time at The Kitchen and every time I have been very pleased. I have dined at some of the greatest restaurants in the world and this is by far my favorite. I am a young adult and am usually talked down to in nicer establishments, like I don't know that the olive oil is used for dipping your bread. The Kitchen is not that way, the staff is always very helpful and they talk to me the same way they would talk to my parents, I appreciate that!!! And the food, it is always spot on, no need for salt and pepper! Bravo!

Pros: relaxed fine dining

Cons: I can't afford to eat there every day

04/18/2007 Posted by hotstreams

Having been to the Kitchen several times I always have high hopes when I dine there. The food almost always lives up to the expectations, but the service always lets me down. It's not that the servie isn't attentive, it just happens to be stiff and lifeless. That seems to be the case with every single server I've had there. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a waiter that juggles at my table but I don't want a bit of personality, at least a little bit of pizaz so I can feel like they don't hate they job, which is the feeling that is almost always conveyed by the front of house staff at the Kitchen. So close to being a great restaurant, but not quite there.

Pros: Food, nice abience.

Cons: Stiff, stuffy service.

11/13/2006 Posted by gmbeid

Four of us went for dinner last weekend for First Bite Boulder (special, $26 prix fixe menu). Our reservation was set for 8:15. We waited about 15 minutes for our table and were fairly well cared for by our bartender, who was quite friendly. Upon being seated, the service declined markedly. While never overtly rude, the service was very slow (not well paced, just slow) and the attitudes were indifferent at best. The one exception being the sommelier who spent an appropriate amount of time with us and made a terrific wine suggestion. The food was very good; the first and last courses being the best. The hangar steak (main course) is something I've had other places before and while it was very good at Kitchen, it could have been better; and the entree overall was not served hot for any of us. Not cold mind you - just not hot. The fries that came with it despite not being hot enough, were delicious; salty and with a nice texture. The greens (hooray for putting something besides spinich on a menu!) were perfectly prepared, and the kale was a very nice surprise. I would think something like First Bite is designed to get people to your restaurant that might not have been yet. I drove up from Denver to eat at Kitchen. While the food was very enjoyable and I love and value their ethic of sustainability, the service was poor enough to ensure I won't be visiting again.

Pros: Great space, good food

Cons: Lackluster, indifferent service

10/23/2006 Posted by partyhardy

just go...any day of the week, any meal of the day. Community night on Monday is so much fun and so much food. I just love The Kitchen!

09/02/2006 Posted by leanroci

Ate breakfast here recently on a Saturday morning, ordered the Grilled Vegetable Sandwich w/Potato Salad. The sandwich was delicious and the potato salad the best I've ever tasted. Service was good and I liked their philosophy of recycling and conserving of energy: among other practices, the kitchen is 100% windpowered and used oils are recycled as bio-diesel fuel. Comfortable ambience.

Pros: Excellent food, comfortable ambience, environmentally conscientious

Cons: Parking could be a problem if you're not willing to walk a block or two.

04/24/2006 Posted by socceris

Super excited to check out the Kitchen, yet was very let down. We went for lunch and the service was terrible! Even got sent the wrong dish and felt like we were there for years. Ended up having the pork sandwich with salsa verde and a side of undercooked potatos. The pork was overcooked and not at all worth the wait or money. Best thing we had was the tomato soup, but how could you screw that up? Maybe it is better to go for dinner.

Pros: ambiance

Cons: the food, service